Brick Walls

For more than 60 years, I have been engaged in extensive research putting together my family tree and have published a website listing 14 of these ancestor trees and 6 descendent charts. Along the way, I have encountered numerous "brick walls", which are genealogical research problems that seem impossible to solve. While my website includes a list of these brickwalls, I have decided to supplement it with this blog. Some of the brick walls you will read here have been resolved, while others have not. My hope is that readers will perhaps have answers or possible different solutions to the ones I have presented.

Catherine Baer As with her husband, there are several versions of her maiden name.

Parr:

baptism of son Daniel (one of his sponsors was Joseph Parr); her children's death records

Baer:

her marriage record

Beer:

baptism of daughter Cecilia

Behr:

baptism of son Francesco

Pere

baptism of daughter Rosena

Père:

baptism of son Charles

After her husband's death in 1865, Catherine remained in Covington where for a time she continued in the confectionary business (Covington City Directories). She died 5 Nov 1880 in Covington KY, Cincinnati Daily Commercial
6 Nov 1880 - Pg 5:1:

There is a lot in the St. Mary's Cemetery in Covington that is in her name. Several of her children are buried there, but no record has been found of Catherine's burial. On 29 Jul 1881 the Daily Commonwealth reported that "Mary M. Parma was appointed and qualified as the administratrix of Catharine Parma, deceased."

Relatives in Cincinnati? Several records have been found that may all be the same person. He has not been found in the 1850 census.

Josephus Parr, one of son Daniel Joseph's baptismal sponsors in 1847

Joseph Bahr, Hamilton County Ohio Citizenship Records 1837-1916 Age: 25 [b.c.1824], Country: Baden, Departure Port: Havre, Arrive Entry: New Orleans, Declaration: T (Declaration of Intention to Naturalize) 12/??/1849, Naturalization: F (Vol 23, Page 35, Folder F). I had no success with the site's search engine and had to use the browse feature. Joseph is record 627. There are others with similar surnames (records 601-625, 1101-1125), but all German, as is Joseph.

Alsace-Lorraine "Alsace-Lorraine (French: Alsace-Lorraine; German: Elsaß-Lothringen) was a territory disputed between the nation states of France and Germany. ... The territory, composed of Alsace and parts of Lorraine, originally belonged to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation since the year 921, but was gradually annexed by France since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648." (http://www.dvhh.org/research/alsace-lorraine.htm)

" ...Alsace-Lorraine, an ethnic German enclave that is, today, in France, but has at times been ruled by Germany. The history of the region is complex, so for the purposes of genealogy, it might be best to simply consider it a "country" in and of itself, without placing it in either Germany or France. If a formal country must be used, then its current location dictates that it be placed in France, not Germany. ... 1648-1871 ruled by France. ...

"ALSACE ... consolidated into provinces of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin [France] after 1789 and under Napoleon; LORRAINE ... permanently French from 1766; its chief cities Metz and Nancy; a province in revolutionary France, divided later into departments of Meuse, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Vosges." (http://dgmweb.net/Ancillary/Geog/Europe/Alsace-Lorraine.html)

Events for Francisco and Catherine Parma and their children center on three cities:

Cincinnati OH

Covington KY

Memphis TN

Covington is at the northern tip of Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. In 1866, the first bridge was built between the two cities. Until then, people crossed by ferry.

Traveling to Memphis TN was a different matter, since it is in the far southwest corner of Tennesse. Initially, probably the only feasible way to travel was by river boat, down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and then down the Mississippi to Memphis. It is likely that their move in the early 1850s to Tennessee was made that way. An 1843 map shows steam boat trips. By 1860 there were railroads going through Cincinnati that crossed lines that went to Memphis.

From the time of their marriage until about 1852, Francesco and Catherine resided with their children in Cincinnati, Ohio where Francesco was a confectioner (Cincinnati City Directories 1846/1849-50; 1850 census).

About 1852 the family moved to Tennessee where their daughter Linda was born on 1 Mar 1853. As there were few railroads at that time, they probably traveled by steamship. By 1855 they were back in Cincinnati (Cincinnati City Directories 1856/1857/1858/1859/1860).

Late in 1859 or early in 1860, the family moved across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky (1860 census). The bridge between the two cities wasn't built until 1866, so they would have crossed the river by ferry. Both Francesco and Catherine apparently remained in Covington until their deaths (no information has been found for the Civil War years).

Francesco Parma The name and birthplace of Francesco Parma (Italy) was initially found in the records of his children. In the 1850 and 1860 censuses, we learn that he was born c.1809 and was a confectioner (candy-maker). The earliest record that has been found for him is the 1839-40 Cincinnati City Directory. He does not appear in any passenger lists (Ancestry.com). He is not listed in Cincinnati in the 1840 census. As a single man, he was apparently included in someone's household.

His surname varies between Palma, Palmer, and Parma. His given name was variously called Francesco, Francis and Frank.

His wife and children (except for Daniel) used the surname Parma for themselves and for him on their records after he died. On his probate record Francesco is Francis Palma, which presumably matches the name he used on his will. Attempts to read his will were unsuccessful because of the poor quality of the microfilm

PALMA - Suddenly, on Sunday evening, December 3, in Covington, Ky of disease of the heart, Mr Francis Palma, aged 58 years.

Italians in Cincinnati Immigrants from the same home town often settled in groups. This may be the situation in Cincinnati. The (1839-40 Cincinnati City Directory includes the place of origin and lists 19 people from Italy. Other sources have provided the birthplaces of four of them, but none of those birthplaces match the records that have been found in Italy. All four were different. Two family members were sponsors of Francesco and Catharine's first child.

Italy The search for Francesco in Italy is complicated by the lack of information in the U.S. No immigration or death record has been found for him. His age is consistently reported in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, but census ages are often not correct. The ages of his children in the census vary dramatically. A range of five years either way from 1809 was used for searching records.

Other than the nobility from Parma, Italy, only one Francesco Parma was found in Italy in the IGI, but that Francesco was born too late and died age 10 (Francesco Parma, Birth: 7 Jun 1830 Caminata, Genova, Italy, Death: 1840 Caminata, Genova, Italy, Father: Pietro Parma, Mother: Julia Maria Parma)

Some possible births have been found for him. They are all variations of Palma/Palmer. A search for "Parma" did not provide any hits. The sources searched (on Family Search) included Family Search Collections: Italy Births and Baptisms, 1806-1900, Italy Marriages, 1809-1900, and Italy Deaths and Burials, 1809-1900. None of these collections are complete.

Summary It is difficult to draw conclusions based on incomplete databases.
Possible sources at FHL (need translation assistance):